Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, on Monday, urged the state Commissioner of Police, Johnson Kokumo, to appeal to officers and men of his command to return to their duty posts with a view of securing lives and property of the citizens of the state.

The governor made the appeal when he paid a solidarity visit to the Force headquarters in Benin on Monday after the #EndSARS protests that led to the destruction of lives and property including the burning down of the police stations in the state.

Obaseki said their absence on the roads could easily be interpreted by the hoodlums who hijacked the good intentions of the #EndSARS protesters as weakness and cowardice on the part of the police, urging the police to do everything within their powers to quickly correct the wrong impression.

He said, “Edo State government will now proceed immediately to begin to rebuild your destroyed buildings. We already ordered some patrol vehicles and we hope it will be delivered in the next few weeks. We will be responsible for the hospital bills of every officer who have been hurt in the last few weeks.”

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The governor vowed that the inmates who escaped would not celebrate the Christmas with other citizens of the state and that they would certainly be rearrested, while the cases of those who stayed back would be reviewed.

Earlier, the police commissioner said the visit of the governor boosted his morale and those of his men to resume and reclaim the state from the hoodlums after the #EndSARS protests.

Kokumo said about 11 of their personnel were injured by the protesters and that out of the 11 injured, 10 of them have been discharged from the hospital while one is still at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital.

He said after the #EndSARS protest, the command arrested 126 suspects and that out of the said number, 10 of them were the inmates who escaped from the Correctional Centres in the state.